Gods in Darkness, by Karl Edward Wagner
pros: well-written; interesting worlds and characters; good example of an antihero; well-developed dark characters; realistic people mixed with extraordinary characters; inevitable results of ambition and violence aren’t glossed over; Teres; 1st novel, Bloodstone, was the best
cons: Kane was a little predictable; Kane isn’t very likeable; the three books leave you hanging; transition from 2nd book to 3rd didn’t make sense; what happened to the girl from the 2nd book – I thought she was in the tower before Kane
misc: Bloodstone; Dark Crusade; Darkness Weaves;
ISBN 189238924; 528pp; pub. 2002
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The Prydain Chronicles, by Lloyd Alexander
pros: classic fantasy; great characters and world; fast, easy read; there is reality and the darkness of war and evil, but has an overall upbeat and positive feeling; Gurgi; Kaw; the magic gifts at the end of The Book of Three; Taran’s banner; the final ending
cons: repetitious elements of characters habits and sayings get a little annoying; some pat situations and solutions; a little predictable; Eilonwy was headstrong and foolish; Glew
misc: The Book of Three; The Black Cauldron; The Castle of Llyr; Taran Wanderer; The High King; Assistant Pig-Keeper; Caer Dallben; Hen Wen
ISBN: various editions and an anthology
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The Demon and the City, by Liz Williams
pros: great idea; interesting characters and plot; Chinese culture and mixture with Indian pantheon; Zhu Irzh; the badger/tea pot; the guild of dowsers; Mhara; Robin Yuan; the forgotten temple; the ultimate fate of the angry dowser and his goddess
cons: very violent; the demon’s lover is just unlikable, although a bit sympathetic; too much mayhem and collateral damage; reality is very dark and ugly; what happened to the second celestial being?
misc: Singapore 3; meridians; Chi and feng shui lines; viral drugs; wealthy society vs. working and poor; earthquakes; Celestial boat; Celestials; Jade Emperor; demoted goddess; Bad Dog City; Chinese afterlife; Detective Inspector Chen; Sergeant Ma; exorcists; sorcerors; black pill; devas; Hell money
ISBN 1597800473; 256pp; pub. 2007
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When True Night Falls, by C.S. Friedman
pros: good series; question of good vs. evil and if evil can ever be justified when used to combat evil and the question of redemption; the great endeavor started by the prophet shows signs of fruition; more is revealed about Tarrant’s motivation; Hesseth; Jenseny; the sea voyage; Jenseny’s solution
cons: Damien’s angst gets old fast; not enough details about the Iezu and the evil that fuels Tarrant’s magic; Hesseth’s fate and the timing of her fate; the Matria’s stranglehold on power was a little unbelievable; the troubled future, especially for the Rakh; what was the fate of the merchants?
misc: Coldfire Trilogy; Undying prince; Karril; Calesta; Siza; black lands; crystal; trees that suck the life out of you with their roots; horses; body kept alive in vat; deep dungeon in lava caverns; the “light” that Jenseny can see; “invisible” dagger
ISBN 0756403162; 560pp; pub. 2005
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Wolf Who Rules, by Wen Spencer
pros: sequel to Tinker; we learn more about Elvish society and the importance of their presence near Pittsburg; we learn a lot more about Windwolf and his household; the friction between human society and the elves; Tinker’s evolving personality; the dream elements; the dragons; the Tengu; this one is a lot more complex than Tinker; good action, believable situations and characters; Tinker’s evolving relationship with Pony and Stormsong; the political situations; the paparazzi and the elves’ reaction; Pony and Stormsong; Tinker’s reaction when watching The Wizard of Oz movie.
cons: Nathan’s fate; Esme’s role; Lain doesn’t appear very much; Tooloo’s role is in question
misc: Oni; Tengu; Riki; quantum physics; ghostland; Alice in Wonderland; Wizard of Oz; Vicereine
ISBN 1416520554; 368pp; pub. 2006
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Circle of the Moon, by Barbara Hambly
pros: author; great characters and interesting world and problems; as story develops it gets better and more interesting; Shaldis gets more attention, as does Jethan; Oryn’s relationship with his servants and lords is developed more; the Teyn; the island Sisters; the status of the genies(Djinn); Pontifer the pig; Foxfire girl
cons: characters that were self-centered and unlikable suddenly become reliable and reasonable; Mohrvine is a convenient bad guy in terms of driving the plot; Red Silk Woman
misc: glass; Dream Eater; green gas; obsidian; moon; sea; islands; jennies
ISBN 0446618179; 544pp; pub. 2006
Cast in Secret, by Michelle Sagara
pros: the great characters; more seems to get resolved this time; Kaylin keeps growing; Severn; the Oracles; the water; the world of the Tha’alaan; the dragons; Kaylin’s dress; the Keeper; more depth to this story, the grittiness felt more believable; the flow of the story is more smooth than in previous 2
cons: Kaylin is still chronically late and apparently a slob; while there’s a hint of tension between Nightshade and Severn, the relationships with Kaylin are still murky; deliberately mysterious hints; action is still a bit choppy
ISBN 0373802803; 521pp; pub. 2007
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The Troll’s Grindstone, by Elizabeth Boyer
pros: Norse mythology; complicated situation with complicated characters; grand scale; simple and complex heroes; lots of scenery and imagery; Fridmarr and Gotiskolker; Thurid; characters have flaws; the Rhbus; the water sisters; the dogs
cons: a bit old-fashioned with the stoic hero and the beautiful, strong, tragic heroine; strong, tragic heroine only has a small part in the story, mostly as inspiration for the heroes
misc: Alfar; alar; scipling; heart of the mountain; mines; limp; Elbegast; Leifr; swords/knives, etc. not keeping an edge, crumbling; Pentacle; Sorkvir
ISBN 0345012046; pub 1989
The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss
pros: well-written; interesting characters; interesting world; Auri; Denna; Kvothe; Sim and Wil; Ben; the trials at the Arcanum are very realistic and characters are well-written
cons: a bit too wordy; not enough action; I would have preferred more information on what it’s really all about; the whole world seems to be against Kvothe; a little too deliberately mysterious
ISBN 075640407X; 896pp; pub. 2007
The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch
pros: very funny, fast-paced; Locke’s early exploits; Chains; great characters; truly hateful bad guys; lots of gray areas; still lots of mystery even after it’s done; this works as an adventure, mystery, or fantasy; fate of the Berangias twins; the sharks; the con; the Spider and the Salvoras
cons: we never meet Sabetha; fate of the twins and Bug; the net worth of Locke and Jean at the end
misc: Capa Raza; Grey King; Thiefmaker; bondmage; Falconer; the contrarequialla; shifting revels; Midnighters; Gentlemen Bastards
ISBN 055358894X; 752pp; pub. 2007
White Knight, by Jim Butcher
pros: Harry Dresden; Lash; Thomas’ job; the scene in Thomas’ apartment; Mouse; Ramirez; Murphy’s new gun; Justine’s new role; Harry’s guitar playing; Harry and Lara’s escape
cons: not as many jokes and humor as in past 2 books; it ended; not enough Butters
misc: Black Council; Black Hats; Cowl; ghouls; vampire courts; Skavis; Malvora; White Council; Grey cloak; Wiccans; freeholding lord; Walkers or Outsiders
favorite quips: “cult of porn-star sorceresses” and “age is always advancing and I’m fairly sure it’s up to no good”
ISBN 0451461401; 416pp; pub. 2007
The Prophet of Lamath, by Robert Don Hughes
pros: good satire; stupid kings and courts get their comeuppance; Pelman and the Power; people actually learn lessons and get wiser, even public figures; the world and its problems; the dragon; the monastery elder and the bear cave; Ezri, the sailor; the naval “battle”; the way the siege ends
cons: Serphimera; could have been longer; Rosha and Bronwynn’s romance is a little forced; the dragon’s fate; the slavery; the merchants were too uniformly unlikable and evil
misc: two-headed dragon; blue-robes; the Power; powershaper; Tohn; Dorlyth; Chaomonous; Ngandib-Mar; Maris; Vicia-Heinox; Divisionists; “The dragon is divided”
ISBN 0345011112; Pub. 1989
Cry of Justice, by Jason Pratt
pros: thoughtful author; good ideas and situations; some very likeable characters; lots of things happening; Seifas
cons: special terms were too similar to Spanish or Latin words and felt awkward; a bit preachy or pedantic; some characters were annoying; choppy rhythm due to use of journal entries and alternating POV; too many descriptions and explanations – the story would have been shorter and the flow would have worked better with less dissertation
misc: Seifas; Jian; Portunista; philosophical; redemption; responsibility; really big birds; mysterious origin/purpose of good guy (Jian)
ISBN 0977888401; 480pp; pub. 2007
The Anubis Gates, by Tim Powers
pros: well-written; fun to read; interesting characters; twisty plot; the character Jacky; the ending; Coleridge in the dungeons; special shoes for villains and chains on the feet for the good guys; some of the names; some very creepy bad guys, especially the clown
cons: the bad guys were a little spread out; Brendan’s doppleganger/ka dopeyness didn’t fit with the explanations of what happens to a ka and his ultimate fate is also inconsistent but convenient; I didn’t fully understand where the “master” came from, he just seemed like a convenient arch-enemy
misc: misfiring gun; ear loss; London in 1800s; Egypt; British and French occupation of Egypt; time travel; time as an ice flow over weeds in a river; gypsies; a wooden monkey; motorcycle crash; soul-shifting; hairy apemen; spells/sorcery gone awry; werewolf isn’t really a werewolf but a sorcerer sort of turned into a dog who keeps growing long hair all over his body and he shifts bodies about once a week because of the hair; Brendan Doyle; William Ashbless; poetry and poets; Punch and Judy show; Dr. Romany; Lord Byron
ISBN 0441004016; 400pp; pub. 1997
Sisters of the Raven, by Barbara Hambly
pros: author; interesting world and dilemma; twist on genies; great characters, especially Peacock King and Summer Concubine; women’s names; the imaginary pig; romance, love interests, implied sexuality without giving step-by-step descriptions of encounters
cons: brutality of world and circumstances; blood mages and related scenes were too graphic for me; it’s not a standalone story; women’s situation in society
misc: desert setting in drought; geisha-type training for concubines or “peach blossom” women; lots of plotting and court intrigue
ISBN 0446615366; 512pp; pub. 2005
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling
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SPOILER WARNING!
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pros: it’s more of Harry; it’s resolution, finally; doesn’t coddle the reader – bad things happen; Snape, after all; Neville; Ron; the final resolution wasn’t exactly what I was expecting; the house elves; mobilized Hogwarts
cons: the very last part could have been left out and story would have been more powerful for me; so many deaths; the Malfoys don’t get destroyed; the wrong heroes get most of the glory; Dobby’s fate; how did Neville get the sword?
ISBN 0545010225; 2007
A Small Elderly Dragon, by Beverly Keller
pros: funny; fast-paced; humor and quirks outweigh the cliches; the “hero”; the dragon and the parrot; the twist on the Black Knight; the final resolution – all in such a short book; the Happily Ever After isn’t ideal
cons: probably hard to find; the cliches; the overlooked, unappreciated, yet extraordinary heroine was a bit overdone and was a disservice to the character; Miles; the King; what ever happened to her mother?
ISBN 0688025536; 143pp; 1984
A Night in the Lonesome October, by Roger Zelazny
pros: it’s by Zelazny; animal characters, especially Snuff, the dog; use of literary and historical characters like Sherlock Holmes, a druid, Cain, Dr. Frankenstein (I may not have recognized all of them); action; dog hero’s “rounds”; surprise with the rat; catnappery world of dreams; portrayal of story from animals’ viewpoints
cons: I didn’t care for the ending, it was both a little anticlimactic and predictable; I didn’t like that one particular character dies; Holmes was annoying; a little confusing at times (it is a Zelazny, after all); end of the world threat sort of fizzles out, doesn’t really work as driving conflict in story; a little negative about cats’ nature
ISBN 0380771411; 280 pp; pub. 1994
To Ride a Rathorn, by P.C. Hodgell
pros: part of Kencyrath, Jamethiel Priest’s-Bane series; setting and dilemmas build on previous book and some problems resolved, including rathorn problem; ghost-horse; Jame is more appreciated and liked in this novel even though she still makes enemies; Jame finds out she’s a specific type of shanir; chaos is not so seemingly random; ending
cons: chaos in her wake; more questions are raised about her role and how her brother’s stability is such an issue; collateral damage–some good, interesting characters die or don’t get rescued; burning man dilemma still seemed confusing or unresolved
ISBN 1592221025; 432 pp; pub. 2006/2001
The Knight, by Gene Wolfe
pros: Gylf; interesting characters and settings; some interesting dilemmas; good portrayal of a boy in a man’s body–consistent throughout; duology rather than long series
cons: meandering account with many detours; constant references to common knowledge reader doesn’t share; contrived situations; cliffhanger
Part One of the Wizard Knight series
ISBN 0765347016; 544 pp; 2005 (reprint)
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